Stern battle awaits familiar foes

There was a time, not very long back in the past, when the very prospect of an India - Sri Lanka encounter sent down pangs of boredom for fans and media alike. So often have these sub-continental sides played each other, that all context was soon lost.

But when India take on Sri Lanka on Friday in Fatullah for the first time since the thrilling tri-series final in the West Indies last July, there will be no dearth of context and inspiration. For one, a victory against India will all but guarantee Sri Lanka of a place in the Asia Cup final while India themselves would want their struggling attack to show some kind of improvement after a slightly better exhibition of death-over bowling against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

India: Virat Kohli believes the death-bowling showed a marked improvement against Bangladesh in India's opening victory over the hosts - and the stand-in skipper might well be right for the yorkers were bowled with a certain degree of precision, lacking in earlier games.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami had started well but Bangladesh were steered well in the middle overs and it could be argued that India did well to keep them under 300. Of course, Sri Lanka would be a different proposition, with their superior batting talent and Kohli will need his bowlers to be far tighter.

The batting will again revolve around Kohli, who slammed his 19th century and the others like Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane will be expected to build around him. It will be interesting to see if Varun Aaron, who had a poor game and suffered an injury later, will be replaced by the promising Ishwar Pandey.

Sri Lanka: The pitch in Fatullah has been way too flat for any bowler to make much of an impact - so despite Sri Lanka's superior bowling attack, the game could well be decided by the batsmen from either team. The islanders are blessed to still have the services of their two giants, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara with some very talented young batsmen to play around them. Lahiru Thirimane, Kusal Perera and Thisara Perera can build innings and destroy attacks in equal measures and they will be keen to get going against India.

While the pitch may not afford a lot for the pacers in general, the one man who will stand out throughout is Lasith Malinga, who rocked Pakistan with his sixth five-for in ODIs and will once again be Sri Lanka's trump card. Can he repeat his efforts against the Indians, who have generally played him without much trouble? His little battles within the war with India could determine the course of the match.

For India's attack, this will be a sterner test than the one against Bangladesh and if they can keep Sri Lanka to under 300, Kohli's endorsement of his bowlers will be understandable. The Lankans have some dangerous batsmen lower down the order and the likes of Kumar and Shami will have to ensure that they find their spots in the blockhole or they would be hurt.